Trial begins over lockup death

May Molina had been a thorn in the side of the Chicago police for years when officers burst into her North Side apartment one night in 2004 and arrested her for drug possession.

Suffering from asthma and diabetes and dependent on a wheelchair for mobility, the community activist was held for more than 24 hours in a police lockup without access to her medication. Her attorney at the time and two inmates being held nearby say their warnings about Molina's condition fell on deaf ears even as she grew increasingly wheezy and incoherent.

Hours later, Molina, 55, was found dead in her cell.

On Tuesday, a lawsuit filed by Molina's family is set to go on trial at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse with potentially millions of dollars in damages at stake as well as broader implications for how the city handles prisoners in police lockups.

Already this year, the city has settled lawsuits alleging police wrongdoing for at least $66.5 million.

The police maintain that Molina, who had a prior felony drug conviction, never asked for treatment. An autopsy found tinfoil packets of heroin in her esophagus that police believe she swallowed during the raid. Her death was ruled accidental by the Cook County medical examiner's office.

The lawsuit alleges that Chicago police routinely deny prescription medications to arrestees in poor health who are held sometimes for hours in lockups after arrests. An untrained desk officer decides if a prisoner should be taken to a hospital, according to the suit.

Molina's lawyers contend that she was targeted for arrest as retribution for her longtime demonstrations against alleged police wrongdoing. Friends say she was frequently harassed by officers after she alleged her son was framed for murder.

"May wasn't shy about standing up for what she believed in," Yvette Cruz, 42, who worked closely with Molina and the group she founded, Families of the Wrongfully Convicted, said Monday in a telephone interview "The police don't like that. They don't like the ones who make noise."

According to court records, at the time of her arrest, Molina asked police if she could bring her medication with her but was told they were not permitted in the lockup. At the Town Hall District station, Molina told a desk officer in a routine prisoner "screening record" that she had serious health issues, but the officer never inquired further about any needed treatment.

Diane Rice, who was being held in a nearby cell, has testified in depositions she heard Molina yell several times for a doctor and a wheelchair, according to court records. Rice said she heard someone yell back, "Ma'am, we asked you when you came in if you needed a doctor, and you said no," the records said.

Later that day, Molina remained at the lockup instead of being taken for a bond hearing to the courthouse at 26th and California, where medical treatment was available. Instead, Molina sat in the lockup as officers at the station went though another shift change, records show.

About 4 p.m., her lawyer Jerry Bischoff arrived at the station and noticed she was groggy, having difficulty speaking and "breathing like someone who had just ... run up a flight of stairs," according to the court records.

Bischoff testified in a deposition he told the two officers in charge of the lockup that Molina was clearly sick and requested she be taken to the Cook County Jail hospital right away. The officers told Bischoff they were "working on it," according to the court records.

About 11 p.m., another inmate, Jasmine Vaccarello, arrived in the lockup and said she heard Molina yelling for help. At one point, Vaccarello said, she called out for the officers on duty at the time to tend to Molina, but one of the officers yelled back, "Shut the (expletive) up!" the records said.

Vaccarello said later she heard snoring from Molina's cell, then listened as it became shallower and stopped altogether. At 2:45 a.m. the next day — nearly 30 hours after her arrest — an officer found Molina unresponsive in her cell, and paramedics could not revive her.

Molina's death sparked a series of protests.

Her son, Michael Ortiz, had been charged with drug possession along with Molina and was unable to post bail in time for her funeral. One month later, the case against him was dropped after police said the substance found in his apartment was not a drug. The son died a few years later of natural causes.

Meanwhile, in 2009, Molina's other son, Salvador Ortiz, was awarded a new trial after serving nearly 17 years in prison for a 1992 gang-related slaying in Lakeview. He was released from prison after prosecutors dropped the charges, records show.